You really should be above average? At the very least! Isn't that what society expects of us? What schools teach? Who wants to be average? Even worse, less than average?! Perhaps there are some who don’t care, but how many parents want to hear that their child
As I enjoyed Day 5 of the ’12 Days to Deming’ course, and one of the Deadly Diseases espoused by Dr Deming, I was reminded of what I termed ‘Bob Lloyd’s Fallacy of Fives’ when it comes to setting targets in aim statements or service level agreements. As Bob
“Is it a task or test?” Bob Lloyd’s question lives in my head whenever I read PDSAs in slide presentations or articles. Bob has been a significant influence on my Quality Journey — mentor, inspirer, and someone I consider a friend — and his question still does more useful work in
A Quality Rebel reflection on variation, stories, and the discipline of understanding systems. We hear a lot these days about hallucinations from AI large language models. The warning is familiar: don’t blindly trust what the machine tells you. AI sometimes produces answers that sound convincing but are completely fabricated.
Happy New Year. I wish you health, curiosity, and just enough discomfort in 2026 to keep learning. After a properly restorative festive break, I’m rebooting my blog—nudged, once again, by highlights resurfacing through Readwise. If you rely on an e-reader and pipe highlights into a PKM system like
We hear it all the time: “Change is hard.” It’s almost a reflex now — the moment the word “change” enters the room, resistance follows it in like an unwelcome shadow. I’ll be honest: I don’t leap out of bed each morning eager to reinvent my world. I
Today’s Readwise highlight covers so much. Without doubt, Respect for Individuals is at the forefront. Simultaneously, there’s appreciation for a system. Even Theory of Knowledge, Psychology and Understanding Variation to give us a full house of Dr Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge. It reminds me of a
In 2024, I challenged myself to write what are termed 'Atomic Essays' through a fantastic online course ('Ship 30 for 30'). Some of my earlier 'attempted' 'Atomic Essays' were inspired mainly by three things: * The book 'Win-Win: W. Edwards Deming, the
This is the final part of the introduction to Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK), considering the fourth, interconnected aspect of psychology, usually as it relates to change. All systems involve humans, and we are psychological beings. As such, psychology interacts with all three other aspects of SOPK
Today, let’s maintain our analytical approach and look at another aspect of Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK), theory of knowledge, very apt when considering teaching. Scientific thinking would be another way of considering theory of knowledge. What do we mean by this? When we have an idea
In Part 1, I introduced Deming's System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK), specifically the aspect of appreciating the system as applied in a teaching context. Today, understanding variation. I am not a teacher, at least in the traditional sense. I do teach as part of my leadership role. I
Dr. W. Edwards Deming spent many years developing his thinking, ultimately compiling it under the moniker of the System of Profound Knowledge (SOPK). The four elements comprising his SOPK are: * Appreciation for a system * Understanding variation * Theory of Knowledge * Psychology of change Deming’s SOPK can be applied to many